Brian Somers Torah: Exodus 10:1 – 13:16
Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28
Brit Chadassah/New Testament: Romans 9:14-29
In the past, when I read this portion which records the last plagues with which YHVH struck Egypt and the institution of the Passover, I tended to focus on chapters 9-12 because I am interested in the Passover and Exodus. But this year, 2021 (Gregorian)/5781 (Jewish), because I was seeking how to illuminate how men are to apply and teach Torah in their families, I found myself focusing on something else. That was two scriptures in chapter 13.
First, we’ll discuss the two scriptures that caught and held my attention because they illuminate other well-known scripture. I will use four translations to compare these two scriptures, and they are the NASB, the NJPS, LXX and Peshitta.
6 For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing with yeast shall be seen among you, nor shall any dough with yeast be seen among you in all your borders. 8 And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10 Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.
Exodus 13:6-10 NASB
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival of the Lord. Throughout the seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten; no leavened bread shall be found with you, and no leaven shall be found in all your territory. And you shall explain to your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I went free from Egypt.’ And this shall serve you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead in order that the Teaching of the Lord may be in your mouth that with a mighty hand the Lord freed you from Egypt. You shall keep this institution at its set time from year to year.
Exodus 13:6-10 NJPS
Six days ye shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day is a feast to the Lord. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; nothing leavened shall be seen with thee, neither shall thou have leaven in all thy borders. And thou shalt tell thy son in that day saying Therefore the Lord dealt thus with me, as I was going out of Egypt. And it shall be to thee a sign on thy hand and a memorial before thine eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth, for with a strong hand the Lord God brought thee out of Egypt. And preserve ye this law according to the times of the seasons from year to year.
Exodus 13:6-10 Brenton’s LXX
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall you eat for seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you throughout all your territory. And you shall tell your son on that day, This is done because of what my God did for me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be to you for a sign, a token of remembrance upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, so that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand has the Lord brought you out of Egypt.
Exodus 13:6-10 Lamsa’s Peshitta
When I read Exodus 13:9, it was like seeing it for the first time. I had to re-read it again and check multiple translations. Then I continued reading and again the same thing was repeated in Exodus 13:16!
11 “Now when the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 you shall devote to the Lord every firstborn of a womb, and every firstborn offspring of an animal that you own; the males belong to the Lord. 13 But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn among your sons you shall redeem. 14 And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 And it came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord put to death every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human firstborns to animal firstborns. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord the males, every firstborn of a womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16 So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
Exodus 13:11-16 NASB
And when the Lord has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and has given it to you, you shall set apart for the Lord every first issue of the womb: every male firstling that your cattle drop shall be the Lord’s. But every firstling ass you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. And you must redeem every first-born male among your children. And when, in time to come, your son asks you saying ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘It was with a mighty hand that the Lord brought us out from Egypt, the house of bondage. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, the first-born of both man and beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord every first male issue of the womb but redeem eerie first-born among my sons.’ And so it shall be as a sign on your hand and as a symbol on your forehead that with a mighty hand the Lord freed us from Egypt.
Exodus 13:11-16 NJPS
And it shall come to pass when the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land of the Chananites, as he sware to thy fathers, and shall give it thee that thou shalt set apart every offspring opening the womb, the males to the Lord, every one that opens the womb out of the herds or among thy cattle, as many as thou shalt have, thou shalt sacrifice the males to the Lord. Every offspring opening the womb of the ass thou shalt change for a sheep; and if thou wilt not change it; thou shalt redeem it. Every firstborn of man of thy sons shalt thou redeem. And if thy son should ask thee hereafter, saying, What is this? Then thou shalt say to him, With a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, And when Pharao hardened his heart so as not to send us away, he slew every first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man and the first-born of beast; therefore, do I sacrifice every offspring that opens the womb, the males to the Lord, and every first-born of my sons I will redeem. And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and immovable before thine eyes, for with a strong hand the Lord brought thee out of Egypt.
Exodus 13:11-16 Brenton’s LXX
And it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and to your fathers and shall give it to you, You shall set apart to the Lord every first-born that opens the womb and every firstling that comes of the animals that you have; the males shall be the Lord’s. And every firstling male of the cattle shall you redeem with a lamb, but if you do not wish to redeem it, then you must kill it, and every first-born of men among your sons you shall redeem. And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying What is this? You shall say to him By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of bondage. And it came to pass when Pharaoh was stubborn, and would not let us go, the Lord slew all the first-born on the land of Egypt, from the first-born of man to the first-born of animals; that is why I sacrifice to the Lord all that open the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem. And it shall be as a token on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes; for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.
Exodus 13:11-16 Lamsa’s Peshitta.
In two places in Exodus chapter 13, Moses identified two separate actions as being for a sign on the hand and on our forehead (immovable/before our eyes/memorial). The first action was the keeping of Passover with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the other was the Redemption of the First-born. These two are specific rituals tied to the Exodus from Egypt.
In Deuteronomy, Moses is addressing the Sons of Israel prior to his death. In chapter 6, he gives them the passage that became known as the Shema.
4 “Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 And you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. 8 You shall also tie them as a sign to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. 9 You shall also write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
This is the exact same language used to describe the actions of keeping Passover and Unleavened Bread as well as the Redemption of the First-born. Moreover, realizing this meant realizing that the words that shall be written on the doorposts of our house and on the gates correspond or are parallel to the blood that was brushed onto the doorposts of the houses during the Passover. It then follows that in verse 7, Moses is describing the Passover meal, and the first night and next day of the Exodus. Therefore, in remembering the first Exodus via the Shema, keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Redemption of the First-born, all tied together by the sign on our hand and forehead, we are being prepared for the Second and Greater Exodus. It is beyond the scope of the present commentary to explore this connection further.
If this wasn’t important enough on its own for the men in obedience to YHVH to understand and teach to their sons and family, there is another connection related to the Greater Exodus that is also vitally important.
There is another well-known passage regarding the sign on one’s hand and/or forehead. That is the Mark of the Beast passage in Revelations 13:16-18.
16 And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
Revelation 13:16-18
A great deal of ink has been spilled trying to figure out who the Beast will be. I’m not concerned with this right now. Instead I wish to direct your attention to the fact that the mark goes on the right hand or forehead. Moreover, one thing that John said about the mark is that it is either the name of the beast or the number of his name, which is 666.
One thing we know about the Beast is that he is described as a man of lawlessness and a son of perdition or destruction. Translations vary on II Thessalonians chapter two verse three. For convenience, we’ll use the NASB here.
3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
II Thessalonians 2:3-4
Again, the Beast is a man of lawlessness. That is also known as a man of sin. Apostasy means falling away from the Torah.
The man of sin causes everyone to walk in sin and lawlessness. That is his mark.
In contrast, the mark on our right hands and foreheads are keeping the Torah. This agrees with the identity of with whom the dragon makes war.
17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 12:17
One other thing, those who take the Beast’s mark, take his name. The name of the people of YHVH is Israel, and includes much more than the citizens of the present nation-state of Israel. This encompasses the twelve tribes and all those from the nations who have been grafted in through faith in the Lamb of YHVH.
Knowing this, every Hebrew Israelite, every Jew, every Christian must teach their families and congregations the importance of celebrating the Passover and Unleavened Bread because those feasts are intimately tied to the Exodus. Celebrating Passover means the man has joined himself to YHVH, sojourns with the people, and has been circumcised and caused all those he’s responsible for to be circumcised. If a man hasn’t satisfied these three prerequisites, that must be corrected post-haste.
43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat it; 44 but as for every slave that someone has purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 A stranger or a hired worker shall not eat it. 46 It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring any of the meat outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. 47 All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. 48 But if a stranger resides with you and celebrates the Passover to the Lord, all of his males are to be circumcised, and then he shall come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised male may eat it. 49 The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who resides among you.”
Exodus 12:43-49
Generally speaking, because YHVH has commanded it should be enough. But looking deeper and making connections strengthens the man’s understanding of what His Master wants him to do.
Now, we know the ‘why’ of Passover, Unleavened Bread and the Redemption of the First-born. As for the ‘how’, I will discuss that next briefly.
The man who wishes to celebrate Passover must know how it is to be done. He needs to know when Passover occurs. That means satisfying himself as to the best calendar to follow as there are several out there. He needs to know when the 14th of Aviv falls on his chosen calendar and go from there. He needs to ensure there is no leavened bread anywhere in his house or domain. Finally, he needs to be ready to leave. The way the text reads, the Israelites left in the middle of the night in the midst of the meal and walked for some distance before they slept.
One final thought about this parashah which is named Bo. It’s spelled בא. This word is part of the phrase shouted when Yeshua entered Yerushalayim.
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of YHVH! Peace in heaven and glory in the heights!”
Luke 19:38 Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels
The word “comes” in this cry is the word “haba” which is spelled הבא.